In de 1920s, Munich became home to severaw powiticaw factions, among dem de NSDAP. The first attempt of de Nazi movement to take over de German government in 1923 wif de Beer Haww Putsch was stopped by de Bavarian powice in Munich wif gunfire. After de Nazis' rise to power, Munich was decwared deir "Capitaw of de Movement". During Worwd War II, Munich was heaviwy bombed and more dan 50% of de entire city and up to 90% of de historic centre were destroyed. After de end of postwar American occupation in 1949, dere was a great increase in popuwation and economic power during de years of Wirtschaftswunder, or "economic miracwe". Unwike many oder German cities which were heaviwy bombed, Munich restored most of its traditionaw cityscape and hosted de 1972 Summer Owympics. The 1980s brought strong economic growf, high-tech industries and scientific institutions, and popuwation growf. The city is home to major corporations wike BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Awwianz and MunichRE.

Munich is home to many universities, museums and deatres. Its numerous architecturaw attractions, sports events, exhibitions and its annuaw Oktoberfest attract considerabwe tourism.[9] Munich is one of de most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany. It is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate wocation, uh-hah-hah-hah. Munich hosts more dan 530,000 peopwe of foreign background, making up 37.7% of its popuwation, uh-hah-hah-hah.[10]

The first known settwement in de area was of Benedictine monks on de Sawt road. The foundation date is considered de year 1158, de date de city was first mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg.[11] By den, de GuewphHenry de Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had buiwt a toww bridge over de river Isar next to de monk settwement and on de sawt route.

Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was ewected German king in 1314 and crowned as Howy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengdened de city's position by granting it de sawt monopowy, dus assuring it of additionaw income. In de wate 15f century, Munich underwent a revivaw of godic arts: de Owd Town Haww was enwarged, and Munich's wargest godic church – de Frauenkirche – now a cadedraw, was constructed in onwy 20 years, starting in 1468.

In 1806 de city became de capitaw of de new Kingdom of Bavaria, wif de state's parwiament (de Landtag) and de new archdiocese of Munich and Freising being wocated in de city. Twenty years water, Landshut University was moved to Munich. Many of de city's finest buiwdings bewong to dis period and were buiwt under de first dree Bavarian kings. Especiawwy Ludwig I rendered outstanding services to Munich's status as a centre of de arts, attracting numerous artists and enhancing de city's architecturaw substance wif grand bouwevards and buiwdings. On de oder hand, Ludwig II, known de worwd over as de fairytawe king, was mostwy awoof from his capitaw and focused more on his fancifuw castwes in de Bavarian countryside. Neverdewess, his patronage of Richard Wagner secured his posdumous reputation, as do his castwes, which stiww generate significant tourist income for Bavaria. Later, Prince Regent Luitpowd's years as regent were marked by tremendous artistic and cuwturaw activity in Munich, enhancing its status as a cuwturaw force of gwobaw importance (see Franz von Stuck and Der Bwaue Reiter).

Fowwowing de outbreak of Worwd War I in 1914, wife in Munich became very difficuwt, as de Awwied bwockade of Germany wed to food and fuew shortages. During French air raids in 1916, dree bombs feww on Munich.

Bombing damage to de Awtstadt. Note de roofwess and pockmarked Awtes Radaus wooking up de Taw. The roofwess Heiwig-Geist-Kirche is on de right of de photo. Its spire, widout de copper top, is behind de church. The Tawbruck gate tower is missing compwetewy.

In 1923, Adowf Hitwer and his supporters, who were concentrated in Munich, staged de Beer Haww Putsch, an attempt to overdrow de Weimar Repubwic and seize power. The revowt faiwed, resuwting in Hitwer's arrest and de temporary crippwing of de Nazi Party (NSDAP). The city again became important to de Nazis when dey took power in Germany in 1933. The party created its first concentration camp at Dachau, 16 kiwometres (9.9 miwes) norf-west of de city. Because of its importance to de rise of Nationaw Sociawism, Munich was referred to as de Hauptstadt der Bewegung ("Capitaw of de Movement"). The NSDAP headqwarters were in Munich and many Führerbauten ("Führer-buiwdings") were buiwt around de Königspwatz, some of which stiww survive.

The city is known as de site of de cuwmination of de powicy of appeasement by Britain and France weading up to Worwd War II. It was in Munich dat British Prime Minister Neviwwe Chamberwain assented to de annexation of Czechoswovakia's Sudetenwand region into Greater Germany in de hopes of sating de desires of Hitwer's Third Reich.

After US occupation in 1945, Munich was compwetewy rebuiwt fowwowing a meticuwous pwan, which preserved its pre-war street grid. In 1957, Munich's popuwation surpassed 1 miwwion, uh-hah-hah-hah. The city continued to pway a highwy significant rowe in de German economy, powitics and cuwture, giving rise to its nickname Heimwiche Hauptstadt ("secret capitaw") in de decades after Worwd War II.

Most Munich residents enjoy a high qwawity of wife. Mercer HR Consuwting consistentwy rates de city among de top 10 cities wif de highest qwawity of wife worwdwide – a 2011 survey ranked Munich as 4f.[12] The same company awso ranks Munich as de 39f most expensive in de worwd and most expensive major city in Germany.[13] Munich enjoys a driving economy, driven by de information technowogy, biotechnowogy, and pubwishing sectors. Environmentaw powwution is wow, awdough as of 2006[update] de city counciw is concerned about wevews of particuwate matter (PM), especiawwy awong de city's major doroughfares. Since de enactment of EU wegiswation concerning de concentration of particuwate in de air, environmentaw groups such as Greenpeace have staged warge protest rawwies to urge de city counciw and de State government to take a harder stance on powwution, uh-hah-hah-hah.[14] Today, de crime rate is wow compared wif oder warge German cities, such as Hamburg or Berwin. For its high qwawity of wife and safety, de city has been nicknamed "Toytown"[15] among de Engwish-speaking residents. German inhabitants caww it "Miwwionendorf", an expression which means "viwwage of a miwwion peopwe". Due to de high standard of wiving in and de driving economy of de city and de region, dere was an infwux of peopwe and Munich's popuwation surpassed 1.5 miwwion by June 2015, an increase of more dan 20% in 10 years.

Munich wies on de ewevated pwains of Upper Bavaria, about 50 km (31 mi) norf of de nordern edge of de Awps, at an awtitude of about 520 m (1,706 ft) ASL. The wocaw rivers are de Isar and de Würm.
Munich is situated in de Nordern Awpine Forewand. The nordern part of dis sandy pwateau incwudes a highwy fertiwe fwint area which is no wonger affected by de fowding processes found in de Awps, whiwe de soudern part is covered wif morainic hiwws. Between dese are fiewds of fwuvio-gwaciaw out-wash, such as around Munich. Wherever dese deposits get dinner, de ground water can permeate de gravew surface and fwood de area, weading to marshes as in de norf of Munich.

By Köppen cwassification tempwates and updated data de cwimate is oceanic (Cfb), independent of de isoderm but wif some humid continentaw (Dfb) features wike warm to hot summers and cowd winters, but widout permanent snow cover.[16][17] The proximity to de Awps brings higher vowumes of rainfaww and conseqwentwy greater susceptibiwity to fwood probwems. Studies of adaptation to cwimate change and extreme events are carried out, one of dem is de Isar Pwan of de EU Adaptation Cwimate.[18]

Showers and dunderstorms bring de highest average mondwy precipitation in wate spring and droughout de summer. The most precipitation occurs in June, on average. Winter tends to have wess precipitation, de weast in February.

The higher ewevation and proximity to de Awps cause de city to have more rain and snow dan many oder parts of Germany. The Awps affect de city's cwimate in oder ways too; for exampwe, de warm downhiww wind from de Awps (föhn wind), which can raise temperatures sharpwy widin a few hours even in de winter.

Being at de centre of Europe, Munich is subject to many cwimatic infwuences, so dat weader conditions dere are more variabwe dan in oder European cities, especiawwy dose furder west and souf of de Awps.

At Munich's officiaw weader station, de highest and wowest temperatures ever measured are 37.5 °C (100 °F), on 27 Juwy 1983 in Trudering-Riem, and −31.6 °C (−24.9 °F), on 12 February 1929 in Botanic Garden of de city.[19][20]

From onwy 24,000 inhabitants in 1700, de city popuwation doubwed about every 30 years. It was 100,000 in 1852, 250,000 in 1883 and 500,000 in 1901. Since den, Munich has become Germany's dird wargest city. In 1933, 840,901 inhabitants were counted, and in 1957 over 1 miwwion, uh-hah-hah-hah.

This section needs expansion. You can hewp by adding to it.(June 2017)

In Juwy 2017, Munich had 1.42 miwwion inhabitants; 421,832 foreign nationaws resided in de city as of 31.12.2017 wif 50.7% of dese residents being citizens of EU member states, and 25.2% citizens in European states not in de EU (incwuding Russia and Turkey).[27] The wargest groups of foreign nationaws were Turks (39,204), Croats (33,177), Itawians (27,340), Greeks (27,117), Powes (27,945), Austrians (21,944), and Romanians (18,085).

About 45% of Munich's residents are not affiwiated wif any rewigious group, dis ratio represents de fastest growing segment of de popuwation, uh-hah-hah-hah. As in de rest of Germany, de Roman Cadowic and Protestant churches have experienced a continuous decwine in membership. As of 31 December 2017, 31.8% of de city's inhabitants were Roman Cadowic, 11.4% Protestant, 0.3% Jewish,[29] and 3.6% were members of an Ordodox Church (Eastern Ordodox or Orientaw Ordodox).[30] About 1% adhere to oder Christian denominations. There is awso a smaww Owd Cadowic parish and an Engwish-speaking parish of de Episcopaw Church in de city.

Munich's current mayor is Dieter Reiter of de Sociaw Democratic Party of Germany. Munich has been governed by de SPD for aww but six years since 1948. This is atypicaw because Bavaria – and particuwarwy soudern Bavaria – has wong been identified wif conservative powitics, wif de Christian Sociaw Union gaining absowute majorities among de Bavarian ewectorate in many ewections at de communaw, state, and federaw wevews, and weading de Bavarian state government for aww but dree years since 1946. Bavaria's second most popuwous city, Nuremberg, is awso one of de very few Bavarian cities governed by an SPD-wed coawition, uh-hah-hah-hah.

As de capitaw of de Free State of Bavaria, Munich is an important powiticaw centre in Germany and de seat of de Bavarian State Parwiament, de Staatskanzwei (de State Chancewwery) and of aww state departments.

The city has an ecwectic mix of historic and modern architecture, because historic buiwdings destroyed in Worwd War II were reconstructed, and new wandmarks were buiwt. A survey by de Society's Centre for Sustainabwe Destinations for de Nationaw Geographic Travewwer chose over 100 historic destinations around de worwd and ranked Munich 30f.[31]

The Peterskirche cwose to Marienpwatz is de owdest church of de inner city. It was first buiwt during de Romanesqwe period, and was de focus of de earwy monastic settwement in Munich before de city's officiaw foundation in 1158. Nearby St. Peter de Godic haww-church Heiwiggeistkirche (The Church of de Howy Spirit) was converted to baroqwe stywe from 1724 onwards and wooks down upon de Viktuawienmarkt, de most popuwar market of Munich.

The warge Residenz pawace compwex (begun in 1385) on de edge of Munich's Owd Town, Germany's wargest urban pawace, ranks among Europe's most significant museums of interior decoration, uh-hah-hah-hah. Having undergone severaw extensions, it contains awso de treasury and de spwendid rococo Cuviwwiés Theatre. Next door to de Residenz de neo-cwassicaw opera, de Nationaw Theatre was erected. Among de baroqwe and neocwassicaw mansions which stiww exist in Munich are de Pawais Porcia, de Pawais Preysing, de Pawais Hownstein and de Prinz-Carw-Pawais. Aww mansions are situated cwose to de Residenz, same as de Awte Hof, a medievaw castwe and first residence of de Wittewsbach dukes in Munich.

Lehew, a middwe-cwass qwarter east of de Awtstadt, is characterised by countwess weww-preserved (and in parts excewwentwy reconstructed) townhouses, giving a dorough impression of de "owd Munich" outside of de main tourist routes. The St. Anna im Lehew is de first rococo church in Bavaria. St. Lukas is de wargest Protestant Church in Munich.

The neo-Godic Maximiwianstraße starts at Max-Joseph-Pwatz, where de Residenz and de Nationaw Theatre are situated, and runs from west to east. The avenue is framed by ewaboratewy structured neo-Godic buiwdings which house, among oders, de Schauspiewhaus, de Buiwding of de district government of Upper Bavaria and de Museum of Ednowogy. After crossing de river Isar, de avenue circwes de Maximiwianeum, which houses de state parwiament. The western portion of Maximiwianstraße is known for its designer shops, wuxury boutiqwes, jewewwery stores, and one of Munich's foremost five-star hotews, de Hotew Vier Jahreszeiten.

In Schwabing and Maxvorstadt, many beautifuw streets wif continuous rows of Gründerzeit buiwdings can be found. Rows of ewegant town houses and spectacuwar urban pawais in many cowours, often ewaboratewy decorated wif ornamentaw detaiws on deir façades, make up warge parts of de areas west of Leopowdstraße (Schwabing's main shopping street), whiwe in de eastern areas between Leopowdstraße and Engwischer Garten simiwar buiwdings awternate wif awmost ruraw-wooking houses and whimsicaw mini-castwes, often decorated wif smaww towers. Numerous tiny awweys and shady wanes connect de warger streets and wittwe pwazas of de area, conveying de wegendary artist's qwarter's fwair and atmosphere convincingwy wike it was at de turn of de 20f century. The weawdy district of Bogenhausen in de east of Munich is anoder wittwe-known area (at weast among tourists) rich in extravagant architecture, especiawwy around Prinzregentenstraße. One of Bogenhausen's most beautifuw buiwdings is Viwwa Stuck, famed residence of painter Franz von Stuck.

Two warge baroqwe pawaces in Nymphenburg and Oberschweissheim are reminders of Bavaria's royaw past. Schwoss Nymphenburg (Nymphenburg Pawace), some 6 km (4 mi) norf west of de city centre, is surrounded by an impressive park and is considered to be one of Europe's most beautifuw royaw residences. 2 km (1 mi) nordwest of Nymphenburg Pawace is Schwoss Bwutenburg (Bwutenburg Castwe), an owd ducaw country seat wif a wate-Godic pawace church. Schwoss Fürstenried (Fürstenried Pawace), a baroqwe pawace of simiwar structure to Nymphenburg but of much smawwer size, was erected around de same time in de souf west of Munich.

St Michaew in Berg am Laim might be de most remarkabwe church in de suburbs. Anoder church of Johann Michaew Fischer is St George in Bogenhausen. Most of de boroughs have parish churches which originate from de Middwe Ages wike de most famous church of piwgrimage in Munich St Mary in Ramersdorf. The owdest church widin de city borders is Heiwig Kreuz in Fröttmaning next to de Awwianz-Arena, known for its Romanesqwe fresco.

Especiawwy in its suburbs, Munich features a wide and diverse array of modern architecture, awdough strict cuwturawwy sensitive height wimitations for buiwdings have wimited de construction of skyscrapers to avoid a woss of views to de distant Bavarian Awps. Most high-rise buiwdings are cwustered at de nordern edge of Munich in de skywine, wike de Hypo-Haus, de Arabewwa High-Rise Buiwding, de Highwight Towers, Uptown Munich, Münchner Tor and de BMW Headqwarters next to de Owympic Park. Severaw oder high-rise buiwdings are wocated near de city centre and on de Siemens campus in soudern Munich. A wandmark of modern Munich is awso de architecture of de sport stadiums (as described bewow).

Munich is a densewy-buiwt city but stiww offers numerous pubwic parks. The Engwischer Garten, cwose to de city centre and covering an area of 3.7 km2 (1.4 sq mi) is warger dan Centraw Park in New York City, is one of de worwd's wargest urban pubwic parks. It contains a naturist (nudist) area, numerous bicycwe and jogging tracks as weww as bridwe-pads. It is considered de "green wung" of Munich and one of de city's best-woved features. It was designed and waid out by Benjamin Thompson, Count of Rumford, for bof pweasure and as a work area for de city's vagrants and homewess. Nowadays it is entirewy a park, its soudern hawf being dominated by wide and extremewy weww-kept open areas, hiwws, monuments and beach-wike stretches (awong de streams Eisbach and Schwabinger Bach), which get crowded in summer. In contrast, its wess-freqwented nordern part is much more qwiet, idywwic and naturaw-seeming, at times resembwing a naturaw preserve more dan an urban pubwic park: it has wots of owd trees, dick undergrowf, winding streams, hidden meadows and is pervaded by numerous romantic padways. Muwtipwe Biergartens can be found in bof parts of de Engwischer Garten, de most weww known being wocated at de Chinese Pagoda.

The city's zoo is de Tierpark Hewwabrunn near de Fwaucher Iswand in de Isar in de souf of de city. Anoder notabwe park is Ostpark wocated in de Ramersdorf-Perwach borough which awso houses de Michaewibad, de wargest waterpark in Munich.

Reguwar annuaw road running events in Munich are de Munich Maradon in October, de Stadtwauf end of June, de company run B2Run in Juwy, de New Year's Run on 31 December, de Spartan Race Sprint, de Owympia Awm Crosswauf and de Bestzeitenmaradon, uh-hah-hah-hah.

Munich has a reputation as a surfing hotspot, offering de worwd's best known river surfing spot, de Eisbach wave, which is wocated at de soudern edge of de Engwischer Garten park and used by surfers day and night and droughout de year.[38] Hawf a kiwometre down de river, dere is a second, easier wave for beginners, de so-cawwed Kweine Eisbachwewwe. Two furder surf spots widin de city are wocated awong de river Isar, de wave in de Fwoßwände channew and a wave downstream of de Wittewsbacherbrücke bridge.[39]

The Bavarian diawects are spoken in and around Munich, wif its variety West Middwe Bavarian or Owd Bavarian (Westmittewbairisch / Awtbairisch). Austro-Bavarian has no officiaw status by de Bavarian audorities or wocaw government, yet is recognised by de SIL and has its own ISO-639 code.

The Deutsches Museum or German Museum, wocated on an iswand in de River Isar, is de wargest and one of de owdest science museums in de worwd. Three redundant exhibition buiwdings dat are under a protection order were converted to house de Verkehrsmuseum, which houses de wand transport cowwections of de Deutsches Museum. Deutsches Museum's Fwugwerft Schweissheim fwight exhibition centre is wocated nearby, on de Schweissheim Speciaw Landing Fiewd. Severaw non-centrawised museums (many of dose are pubwic cowwections at Ludwig-Maximiwians-Universität) show de expanded state cowwections of pawaeontowogy, geowogy, minerawogy,[40]zoowogy, botany and andropowogy.

Music is so important in de Bavarian capitaw dat de city haww gives permissions every day to 10 musicians for performing in de streets around Marienpwatz. This is how performers such as Owga Khowodnaya and Awex Jacobowitz are entertaining de wocaws and de tourists every day.

The city is known as de second wargest pubwishing centre in de worwd (around 250 pubwishing houses have offices in de city), and many nationaw and internationaw pubwications are pubwished in Munich, such as Arts in Munich, LAXMag and Prinz.

At de turn of de 20f century, Munich, and especiawwy its suburb of Schwabing, was de preeminent cuwturaw metropowis of Germany. Its importance as a centre for bof witerature and de fine arts was second to none in Europe, wif numerous German and non-German artists moving dere. For exampwe, Wassiwy Kandinsky chose Munich over Paris to study at de Akademie der Biwdenden Künste München, and, awong wif many oder painters and writers wiving in Schwabing at dat time, had a profound infwuence on modern art.

Prominent witerary figures worked in Munich especiawwy during de finaw decades of de Kingdom of Bavaria, de so-cawwed Prinzregentenzeit (witerawwy "prince regent's time") under de reign of Luitpowd, Prince Regent of Bavaria, a period often described as a cuwturaw Gowden Age for bof Munich and Bavaria as a whowe. Among dem were wuminaries such as Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Pauw Heyse, Rainer Maria Riwke, Ludwig Thoma, Fanny zu Reventwow, Oskar Panizza, Gustav Meyrink, Max Hawbe, Erich Mühsam and Frank Wedekind. For a short whiwe, Vwadimir Lenin wived in Schwabing, where he wrote and pubwished his most important work, What Is to Be Done? Centraw to Schwabing's bohemian scene (awdough dey were actuawwy often wocated in de nearby Maxvorstadt qwarter) were Künstwerwokawe (artist's cafés) wike Café Stefanie or Kabarett Simpw, whose wiberaw ways differed fundamentawwy from Munich's more traditionaw wocawities. The Simpw, which survives to dis day (awdough wif wittwe rewevance to de city's contemporary art scene), was named after Munich's famous anti-audoritarian satiricaw magazine Simpwicissimus, founded in 1896 by Awbert Langen and Thomas Theodor Heine, which qwickwy became an important organ of de Schwabinger Bohème. Its strikingwy modern caricatures and biting satiricaw attacks on Wiwhewmine German society were de resuwt of countwess of cowwaborative efforts by many of de best visuaw artists and writers from Munich and ewsewhere.

The Viktuawienmarkt is Munich's most popuwar market for fresh food and dewicatessen, uh-hah-hah-hah. A very owd feature of Munich's Fasching (carnivaw) is de dance of de Marktfrauen (market women) of de Viktuawienmarkt in comicaw costumes.

The Auer Duwt is hewd dree times a year on de sqware around Mariahiwf church and is one of Munich's owdest markets, weww known for its hardware, trinkets and antiqwes.

Three weeks before Christmas, de Christkindwmarkt opens at Marienpwatz and oder sqwares in de city, sewwing Christmas goods.

The Hofbräuhaus am Pwatzw, arguabwy de most famous beer haww worwdwide, is wocated in de city centre. It awso operates de second wargest tent at de Oktoberfest, one of Munich's most famous attractions. For two weeks, de Oktoberfest attracts miwwions of peopwe visiting its beer tents ("Bierzewte") and fairground attractions. The Oktoberfest was first hewd on 12 October 1810 in honour of de marriage of crown prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hiwdburghausen. The festivities were cwosed wif a horse race and in de fowwowing years de horse races were continued and water devewoped into what is now known as de Oktoberfest. Despite its name, most of Oktoberfest occurs in September. It awways finishes on de first Sunday in October unwess de German nationaw howiday on 3 October (Tag der deutschen Einheit, i. e., "Day of German Unity") is a Monday or Tuesday – den de Oktoberfest remains open for dese days.

The Munich cuisine contributes to de Bavarian cuisine. Münchner Weißwurst ('white sausage') was invented here in 1857. It is a Munich speciawity. Traditionawwy eaten onwy before noon – a tradition dating to a time before refrigerators – dese morsews are often served wif sweet mustard and freshwy baked pretzews.

Munich is known for its breweries and de Weissbier (or Weißbier / Weizenbier, wheat beer) is a speciawity from Bavaria. Hewwes, a pawe wager wif a transwucent gowd cowour is de most popuwar Munich beer today, awdough it's not owd (onwy introduced in 1895) and is de resuwt of a change in beer tastes. Hewwes has wargewy repwaced Munich's dark beer, Dunkwes, which gets its cowour from roasted mawt. It was de typicaw beer in Munich in de 19f century, but it is now more of a speciawity. Starkbier is de strongest Munich beer, wif 6%–9% awcohow content. It is dark amber in cowour and has a heavy mawty taste. It is avaiwabwe and is sowd particuwarwy during de Lenten Starkbierzeit (strong beer season), which begins on or before St. Joseph's Day (19 March). The beer served at Oktoberfest is a speciaw type of Märzen beer wif a higher awcohow content dan reguwar Hewwes.

Beer garden in Munich

There are countwess Wirtshäuser (traditionaw Bavarian awe houses/restaurants) aww over de city area, many of which awso have smaww outside areas. Biergärten (beer gardens) are de most famous and popuwar fixtures of Munich's gastronomic wandscape. They are centraw to de city's cuwture and serve as a kind of mewting pot for members of aww wawks of wife, for wocaws, expatriates and tourists awike. It is awwowed to bring one's own food to a beer garden, however, it is forbidden to bring one's own drinks. There are many smawwer beer gardens and around twenty major ones, providing at weast one dousand seats, wif four of de most famous and popuwar in de Engwischer Garten: Chinesischer Turm (Munich's second wargest beer garden wif 7,000 seats), Seehaus, Hirschau and Aumeister. Among wocaws, connoisseurs and weww-informed tourists, Augustiner-Kewwer, near Hauptbahnhof (centraw station) at Arnuwfstraße, is one of de most popuwar beer gardens in de city, since it is de onwy one in which Munich's most popuwar beer, Augustiner, is drawn from wooden barrews. Nockherberg, Hofbräukewwer (not to be confused wif de Hofbräuhaus) and Löwenbräukewwer are oder famous beer gardens. Hirschgarten is de wargest beer garden in de worwd, wif 8,000 seats.

Awso much consumed, dough not from Munich and dus widout de right to have a tent at de Oktoberfest, are especiawwy Tegernseer and Schneider Weisse, de watter of which has a major beer haww in Munich just as de Munich breweries do. Smawwer breweries are becoming more prevawent in Munich, such as Giesinger Bräu.[42] However, dese breweries do not have tents at Oktoberfest.

Nightwife in Munich is wocated mostwy in de city centre (Awtstadt-Lehew) and de boroughs Maxvorstadt, Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt, Au-Haidhausen and Schwabing. Between Sendwinger Tor and Maximiwianspwatz wies de so-cawwed Feierbanane (party banana), a roughwy banana-shaped unofficiaw party zone spanning 1.3 kiwometres (0.8 miwes) awong Sonnenstraße, characterised by a high concentration of cwubs, bars and restaurants. The Feierbanane has become de mainstream focus of Munich's nightwife and tends to become crowded, especiawwy at weekends. It has awso been de subject of some debate among city officiaws because of awcohow-rewated security issues and de party zone's generaw impact on wocaw residents as weww as day-time businesses.

Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt's two main qwarters, Gärtnerpwatzviertew and Gwockenbachviertew, are bof considered decidedwy wess mainstream dan most oder nightwife hotspots in de city and are renowned for deir many hip and waid back bars and cwubs as weww as for being Munich's main centres of gay cuwture. On warm spring or summer nights, hundreds of young peopwe gader at Gärtnerpwatz to rewax, tawk wif friends and drink beer.

Maxvorstadt has many smawwer bars dat are especiawwy popuwar wif university students, whereas Schwabing, once Munich's first and foremost party district wif wegendary cwubs such as Big Appwe, PN, Domiciwe, Hot Cwub, Piper Cwub, Tiffany, Germany's first warge-scawe disco Bwow Up and de underwater nightcwub Yewwow Submarine,[41] as weww as many bars such as Schwabinger 7 or Schwabinger Podium, has wost much of its nightwife activity in de wast decades, mainwy due to gentrification and de resuwting high rents. It has become de city's most coveted and expensive residentiaw district, attracting affwuent citizens wif wittwe interest in partying.

Since de mid-1990s, de Kunstpark Ost and its successor Kuwtfabrik, a former industriaw compwex dat was converted to a warge party area near München Ostbahnhof in Berg am Laim, hosted more dan 30 cwubs and was especiawwy popuwar among younger peopwe and residents of de metropowitan area surrounding Munich.[44] The Kuwtfabrik was cwosed at de end of de year 2015 to convert de area into a residentiaw and office area. Apart from de Kuwtfarbik and de smawwer Optimowwerke, dere is a wide variety of estabwishments in de urban parts of nearby Haidhausen. Before de Kunstpark Ost, dere had awready been an accumuwation of internationawwy known nightcwubs in de remains of de abandoned former Munich-Riem Airport.

Munich nightwife tends to change dramaticawwy and qwickwy. Estabwishments open and cwose every year, and some survive onwy a few monds, whiwe oders wast many years. Beyond de awready mentioned venues of de 1960s and 1970s, nightcwubs wif internationaw recognition in recent history incwuded Tanzwokaw Größenwahn, Atomic Cafe, Uwtraschaww, KW – Das Heizkraftwerk, Natraj Tempwe and Babawu Bar. From 1995 to 2001, Munich was awso home to de Union Move, one of de wargest technoparades in Germany.

Munich has two directwy connected gay qwarters, which basicawwy can be seen as one: Gärtnerpwatzviertew and Gwockenbachviertew, bof part of de Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt district. Freddie Mercury had an apartment near de Gärtnerpwatz and transsexuaw icon Romy Haag had a cwub in de city centre for many years.

Munich has more dan 100 night cwubs and dousands of bars and restaurants widin city wimits.[45][46]

Munich is a weading wocation for science and research wif a wong wist of Nobew Prize waureates from Wiwhewm Conrad Röntgen in 1901 to Theodor Hänsch in 2005. Munich has become a spirituaw centre awready since de times of Emperor Louis IV when phiwosophers wike Michaew of Cesena, Marsiwius of Padua and Wiwwiam of Ockham were protected at de emperor's court. The Ludwig Maximiwian University (LMU) and de Technische Universität München (TU or TUM), were two of de first dree German universities to be awarded de titwe ewite university by a sewection committee composed of academics and members of de Ministries of Education and Research of de Federation and de German states (Länder). Onwy de two Munich universities and de Technicaw University of Karwsruhe (now part of Karwsruhe Institute of Technowogy) have hewd dis honour, and de impwied greater chances of attracting research funds, since de first evawuation round in 2006.

Munich has de strongest economy of any German city[49] and de wowest unempwoyment rate (3.0% in June 2014) of any German city of more dan a miwwion peopwe (de oders being Berwin, Hamburg and Cowogne).[50][51] The city is awso de economic centre of soudern Germany. Munich topped de ranking of de magazine Capitaw in February 2005 for de economic prospects between 2002 and 2011 in 60 German cities.

Munich is a financiaw centre and a gwobaw city and howds de headqwarters of many companies incwuding more wisted by de DAX dan any oder German city, as weww as de German or European headqwarters of many foreign companies such as McDonawd's and Microsoft.

Munich is de wargest pubwishing city in Europe[56] and home to de Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's biggest daiwy newspapers. The city is awso de wocation of de programming headqwarters of Germany's wargest pubwic broadcasting network, ARD, whiwe de wargest commerciaw network, Pro7-Sat1 Media AG, is headqwartered in de suburb of Unterföhring. The headqwarters of de German branch of Random House, de worwd's wargest pubwishing house, and of Burda pubwishing group are awso in Munich.

Munich has an extensive pubwic transport system consisting of an underground metro, trams, buses and high-speed raiw. In 2015, de transport modaw share in Munich was 38 percent pubwic transport, 25 percent car, 23 percent wawking, and 15 percent bicycwe.[59] Its pubwic transport system dewivered 566 miwwion passenger trips dat year.[59] Munich is de hub of a weww-devewoped regionaw transportation system, incwuding de second-wargest airport in Germany and de Berwin–Munich high-speed raiwway, which connects Munich to de German capitaw city wif a journey time of about 4 hours. The trade fair transport wogistic is hewd every two years at de Neue Messe München (Messe München Internationaw).

The extensive network of subway and tram wines assist and compwement pedestrian movement in de city centre. The 700m-wong Kaufinger Straße, which starts near de Main train station, forms a pedestrian east-west spine dat traverses awmost de entire centre. Simiwarwy, Weinstraße weads off nordwards to de Hofgarten, uh-hah-hah-hah. These major spines and many smawwer streets cover an extensive area of de centre dat can be enjoyed on foot and bike. The transformation of de historic area into a pedestrian priority zone enabwes and invites wawking and biking by making dese active modes of transport comfortabwe, safe and enjoyabwe. These attributes resuwt from appwying de principwe of "fiwtered permabiwity", which sewectivewy restricts de number of roads dat run drough de centre. Whiwe certain streets are discontinuous for cars, dey connect to a network of pedestrian and bike pads, which permeate de entire centre. In addition, dese pads go drough pubwic sqwares and open spaces increasing de enjoyment of de trip (see image). The wogic of fiwtering a mode of transport is fuwwy expressed in a comprehensive modew for waying out neighbourhoods and districts – de Fused Grid.

The average amount of time peopwe spend commuting to and from work wif pubwic transit in Munich on a weekday is 56 min, uh-hah-hah-hah. 11% of pubwic transit riders, ride for more dan 2 hours every day. The average amount of time peopwe wait at a stop or station for pubwic transit is 10 min, whiwe 6% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance peopwe usuawwy ride in a singwe trip wif pubwic transit is 9.2 km, whiwe 21% travew for over 12 km in a singwe direction, uh-hah-hah-hah.[60]

Cycwing has a strong presence in de city and is recognised as a good awternative to motorised transport. The growing number of bicycwe wanes are widewy used droughout de year. Munich cycwists have a reputation for being qwite daring or even carewess, being freqwentwy seen as a nuisance by drivers, especiawwy when deir numbers muwtipwy in de warmer monds. Cycwe pads can be found awongside de majority of sidewawks and streets, awdough de newer and/or renovated ones are much easier to teww apart from pavements dan owder ones. The cycwe pads usuawwy invowve a wonger route dan by de road, as dey are diverted around objects, and de presence of pedestrians can make dem qwite swow.

A modern bike hire system is avaiwabwe widin de area bounded by de Mittwerer Ring.

Traffic, however, is often very heavy in and around Munich. Traffic jams are commonpwace during rush hour as weww as at de beginning and end of major howidays in Germany. There are few "green waves" or roundabouts, and de city's prosperity often causes an abundance of obstructive construction sites. Oder contributing factors are de extraordinariwy high rates of car ownership per capita (muwtipwe times dat of Berwin), de city's historicawwy grown and wargewy preserved centrawised urban structure, which weads to a very high concentration of traffic in specific areas, and sometimes poor pwanning (for exampwe bad traffic wight synchronisation and a wess dan ideaw ring road).

In 2008, de Bavarian state government granted a wicense to expand Oberpfaffenhofen Air Station wocated west of Munich, for commerciaw use. These pwans were opposed by many residents in de Oberpfaffenhofen area as weww as oder branches of wocaw Government, incwuding de city of Munich, which took de case to court.[65] However, in October 2009, de permit awwowing up to 9725 business fwights per year to depart from or wand at Oberpfaffenhofen was confirmed by a regionaw judge.[66]